DISTRIBUTION OF INORGANIC CARBON AND RELATED PARAMETERS IN SURFACE SEAWATER OF THE ENGLISH-CHANNEL DURING SPRING 1994

The complete CO2 system, dissolved oxygen, nutrients and chlorophyll c oncentrations, fluorescence, salinity and temperature of surface seawa ter have been determined in the English Channel and the Southern Eight of the North Sea during Spring 1994. As already mentioned in a previo us study, this area is characterized by important spatial and temporal variations of the considered set of parameters. This paper focuses on the distribution of the homogeneous buffer factor [beta = dln(pCO(2)) /dln(TCO2)]. It is shown that this parameter is a useful tool for iden tifying processes that mainly affect the CO2 distribution, such as pri mary production or water mass mixing, even in such a complex area.